126/YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!
to compensate for the ingratitude of the North towards the South, as
well as for the weakness of the South's governments.
McNamara's above-mentioned proposals were not implemented
anywhere by the World Bank. Furthermore, McNamara's
development plan never considered the potential of increased trade
between the countries of the South themselves. He never acknowl
edged the need to build up regional blocs in the South - blocs which
could create complementarities favouring a cumulative process of
regional growth that would reduce the South's dependence on the
North. The only relationship worthy of his attention was between the
countries of the South and those of the North - in which those from
the South always come off worse since it is the developed countries
that set the rules of international trade.
It is none the less noteworthy that McNamara's declarations and
proposals stood in sharp contrast to the aggressive neo-liberal turn
taken in the 1980s. In his own way, McNamara belonged to the old
school. This does not change the fact that he played a key role in
laying the groundwork for the neo-liberal offensive. The waning gap
between his words and his deeds was eliminated by the neo-liberals
- who jettisoned all talk of planning, state control and development.